Jim Koepke
09-28-2022, 11:32 PM
If my memory is working Derek Cohen posted about making a depth stop for a router plane many moons ago.
Since acquiring a Stanley #271 router plane it seemed a depth stop could actually be used to control the depth adjustment. When using a router plane if one wants a 1/4” groove worked, the blade isn’t set to take 1/4” all at once unless one wants a mess. With a depth stop one could use a feeler gauge to move the stop a few thousandths of an inch above the housing each time before lowering the blade to move it incrementally.
There is a lot of scrap metal in my shop just like there is scrap wood. A piece of 3/8” rod was filed square on on end and center punched to be drilled. The cutter for the small router measured 7/32”. A hole was drillßed with a bit of this size and the fit was a bit tight. A 15?64” bit was used and it slid smoothly on the cutters shaft with extra room.
The next step was to bore a hole to thread it for a 4-40 fastener. There happened to be a 4-40 threaded fastener in my parts drawer with a knurled head. Hanging on to junk pays off again.
The picture below shows a common set up to bore a hole squarely into a round piece of material:
486923
A hole is drilled into the piece of wood the same size as the material. The piece to be drilled is then jammed into the hole. After the hole was drilled in the other end of the rod it was jammed into the hole and marked for depth. Then the rod was withdrawn and set against the end of the block to mark for the location of the hole to be tapped:
486924
My tap isn’t a bottom tap so the rod had to be bored from the other side to allow the tap to go through. A 5/32” drill was used for this following the procedure used for the first hole only from the other side of the rod.
The piece was cut off and a bit of filing and sanding later it was given a test fitting:
486925
The sanding was done by chucking the depth stop into one of my drill motors running over my Power Sharpening System. It came out fine.
jtk
Since acquiring a Stanley #271 router plane it seemed a depth stop could actually be used to control the depth adjustment. When using a router plane if one wants a 1/4” groove worked, the blade isn’t set to take 1/4” all at once unless one wants a mess. With a depth stop one could use a feeler gauge to move the stop a few thousandths of an inch above the housing each time before lowering the blade to move it incrementally.
There is a lot of scrap metal in my shop just like there is scrap wood. A piece of 3/8” rod was filed square on on end and center punched to be drilled. The cutter for the small router measured 7/32”. A hole was drillßed with a bit of this size and the fit was a bit tight. A 15?64” bit was used and it slid smoothly on the cutters shaft with extra room.
The next step was to bore a hole to thread it for a 4-40 fastener. There happened to be a 4-40 threaded fastener in my parts drawer with a knurled head. Hanging on to junk pays off again.
The picture below shows a common set up to bore a hole squarely into a round piece of material:
486923
A hole is drilled into the piece of wood the same size as the material. The piece to be drilled is then jammed into the hole. After the hole was drilled in the other end of the rod it was jammed into the hole and marked for depth. Then the rod was withdrawn and set against the end of the block to mark for the location of the hole to be tapped:
486924
My tap isn’t a bottom tap so the rod had to be bored from the other side to allow the tap to go through. A 5/32” drill was used for this following the procedure used for the first hole only from the other side of the rod.
The piece was cut off and a bit of filing and sanding later it was given a test fitting:
486925
The sanding was done by chucking the depth stop into one of my drill motors running over my Power Sharpening System. It came out fine.
jtk